NVCC Members Hear from FC Chief of Emergency Management

Craig Moreau, Fayette County Chief of Emergency Management and Homeland Security was the guest speaker during the Monday, Sept. 28 Lunch and Learn held at Navidad Valley Community Connections.

Moreau began his presentation with a brief review COVID-19 beginning in February of this year and what was known then. Moreau said things have changed a lot since that time in regard to knowledge about how it spreads, what works and what doesn’t, testing, quarantine and the like. He receives updates from state and federal sources nearly every day.

He mentioned the National Incident Management Program, which was formed after 9/11, as a major resource. This is a system used in the United States to coordinate emergency preparedness and incident management among various federal, state and local agencies. It is composed of four incident management teams. Each team consists of seven members who are assigned to full time command and general staff positions. These positions are Commander, Safety Officer, Public Information Officer, Planning Section Chief, Operations Section Chief, Logistics Section Chief, and Finance Section Chief. COVID-19 is the longest incident that this country and team has dealt with.

Moreau commended the county officials at all levels for working so well together as the pandemic has evolved. He noted that the information keeps changing. He said he and Fayette County Judge Weber had made the decision to keep people current on all statistics. He advised the state is behind in reporting their numbers because they have so much input from so many sources to sort out as they have no way to take people off the list when there are inaccuracies. He advised they will eventually catch up, but that’s why the numbers reported by the state frequently differ from those reported locally.

Moreau defined the types of tests, stating that none of them are perfect. Information on these tests can be found on the NVCC website at navidadvalleycc.com. He stressed any tests labeled “home tests” are a scam.

Moreau addressed mask wearing and stated everyone should be following the state mandates. He said the mask is like a “billboard” reminding folks to think about situations they might be encountering.

Moreau also addressed a vaccine question. He stated with the new testing measures the vaccine can go through the phases or trials, much faster, which is why there will soon be a vaccine available, versus some claims of another year to wait. The vaccine is now tried out on mouse cells, versus the old method of live mice. The other neat thing is that all manufacturers are sharing information, which greatly excels the process. He also said that the latest information is that this virus is more like chicken pox than the seasonal flu. He added that a 10 to 1 solution of 6% bleach is an effective cleaner in killing coronavirus.

NVCC members also celebrated September birthdays. The Lunch and Learn speaker for Oct. 12 is Nancy Hay, RN, MSN, with the topic of “Flu Shots for Aging Adults During Covid Times: What to Know and Do.” On Monday, Oct. 19, Thadious Polasek is bringing the latest on the library and The Czech Conversation Circle.

Navidad Valley Community Connections is a non-profit 501(c)(3) senior center serving Schulenburg and the surrounding area. For questions, call Cindy Villarreal at (979) 309-9592 or Nancy Hay, (979) 561-5092.